diverdriver

Clay, MOST excellent advice. That is exactly what you do with a side by side. I guess you DO know something. Don't unstow the toggles on either canopy. Steer with the dominant canopy on rear riser and SMALL inputs only. Pick the biggest dang field you can find and let it fly. PLF. Sorry Clay, had to say it all again. I think it's worth repeating. Chris Schindler D-19012 ATP/CFII www.DiverDriver.com

No, No, NO!!!! I get the last word! LAST WORD WORD!! Chris Schindler D-19012 ATP/CFII www.DiverDriver.com

Hey Marc, catch me online with IM and let me know where you're moving in to. I can also give you directions to Winter Expo if you need them. There will also be a Safety Weekend March 9th, 10th at SDC. So that's two weekends of safety stuff. C ya. Oh, I drink Heineken. Chris Schindler D-19012 ATP/CFII www.DiverDriver.com

Good points. In flying, we say that safety is not actions. Safety is an attitude. An attitude that let's us decide if a certain course of action is safe for me. Me alone. Rickster Powell can pull a gnarly hook down into a twelve foot ditch, pull up, swoop the lip, and land outside the lip standing up. Safely. He has the experience, practice, skill, and attitude to do it safely. If I tried that it would be down right dangerous. Not to mention dumb. Safety is an individual thing in skydiving and it is an attitude. That's the best way I can describe it. Chris Schindler D-19012 ATP/CFII www.DiverDriver.com

Ummm....I fly a plane. Chris Schindler D-19012 ATP/CFII www.DiverDriver.com

Ok Billvon, put down the frog and step away from the crack pipe. Oh, and I know exactly what you're talking about. Chris Schindler D-19012 ATP/CFII www.DiverDriver.com

Clay, so if I saw something in your technique that potentially could kill you down the road I can't tell you about it? I'm not a DZO but I am concerned about my friends health in this sport. I had a friend that didn't have that great a canopy control who bought a Jedei 105. I said this was a bad canopy for her. She didn't think so. She smacked in and got banged up. She doesn't jump anymore. Not due to injury. Another friend was told that he had poor technique in his hooking. He disregarded the warning and broke his pelvis. Another friend was told that he had horrible canopy discipline (sp?) while in a group. He said the rest of us were just dumb, drug taking freefliers. He is dead and he took another friend of mine with him in a canopy collision. I think I'll go right on giving canopy control feedback. What anyone does with it is their decision I guess. Oh, and I do hook turns too. Stilleto 107. I also have 4,500 hours flying. I just want to look out for my friends cuz I know that they most likely won't stop hooking. So we better give them some survival skills before they go some place else that does allow them and plants themselves in. If someone is telling you that you are doing something wrong or dangerous it may be that they are not just trying to take away your fun. They might be trying to save your life. Chris Schindler D-19012 ATP/CFII www.DiverDriver.com

No flashing needed. Spandex will do fine. And I agree about WFFC and Summerfest being at the same time but that's really up to the buisness men involved. I have also had a thought....something I noticed here and on rec.skydiving......every time a thread starts about WFFC someone seems to pipe up about Roger's place or Summerfest. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the topic of the thread is WFFC info, dates, location it's kind of a negative thing to go on and on about Summerfest. I am now guilty of it too. Another HIJACKING!!!! Well, I guess I just can't resist when someone asks about Ottawa, SDC, Summerfest. Maybe I should have copied and paisted it into a new thread to respond. I think I'll do that from now on. Chris Schindler D-19012 ATP/CFII www.DiverDriver.com

Oh, you haven't been around SDC much then. There are plenty of boobies there. But if that's all you're interested in then have fun at Quincy. I happen to think that women have more to give to skydiving than just boobies, boobies, boobies. Oh, and it's a Bell 222. Which part of the "hot shit" ride didn't you get on your flight at SDC? I've ridden both and had a blast on both. Nuf said. Roger's moralistic attitudes? Well, it's a big place and if you don't want to see Roger the entire time you're there it's pretty easy to accomplish. Don't know what else to tell you or anyone else reading this. It's not like us regulars stand on one side of the gym and the visitors on the other playing "Red Rover". "Red Rover, Red Rover send AndyMan right over." I promise you, though, if you do visit again I will personally make a point to introduce you to some fun people. Chris Schindler D-19012 ATP/CFII www.DiverDriver.com

Cliqueish? That's unfortunate. Yah, lot's of jumpers have established camping there with their trailors. Should they all move out so they can be evenly dispersed among all the visitors? Gosh, we all hang out together cuz we know each other already. When I go to Quincy I find friends that I've known for years and hang with them usually. I meet new people along the way, but it's usually because I introduced myself. Chris Schindler D-19012 ATP/CFII www.DiverDriver.com

Umm, my memory of Summerfest is that those who wanted to party together did so in the hanger at night in the big auditorium. Those who wanted piece and quiet or smaller groups got them in the campground with bonfires. That's the nice thing about the facility is that those who want to be loud and party hard can do so and the sound doesn't travel so much through the whole campground. Best of both worlds? Oh, if there's gonna be 1,000 jumpers you can count on more aircraft than three Super Otters. But what if they are all otters? Do you go for the skydive? Or the type of doorway you step through? Jump Planes are just glorified ski lifts. Yes, that makes me a glorified ski lift operator. You wanna keep costs down? Then the Super Otter is the safest, most efficient turbine jump plane out there. But for kicks we have the Bell 222 Helicopter. Yep, Summerfest is just a different feel. It's a different boogie. No doubt about it. That's the whole point, I believe, to the marketing of it......Anyway, I had a great time last year flying and jumping at it. Chris Schindler D-19012 ATP/CFII www.DiverDriver.com

How many, I haven't totalled them up. But we could start with "Interference of a flight crew member". But that's if the pilot doesn't want you to do it. They might also look unfavorably at the weight and balance or structural limitations with someone on top or slid down the spine to the tail. If the CG can be shown to go aft of the AFT CG limit then that's exceeding a structural limitation and thus breaks an FAR. This is to name a couple of ideas. Chris Schindler D-19012 ATP/CFII www.DiverDriver.com

Well, I don't think they would be able to keep a hold of the hatch as they opened it so it probably went flying and fell who knows where. Then, they put themselves in a position that if they had a premature deployment would most certainly kill them and could possibly take the plane out. Otter pilots are not required to wear emergency bailout rigs so we would have no option but to ride the plane down. Yes, it's a long way to get to the door but some chance is better than no chance. Don't climb on top of the otter in flight no matter what cool skygod you saw do it first says it's ok. And if you see someone doing it you might bring it to the attention of the pilot. Chris Schindler D-19012 ATP/CFII www.DiverDriver.com

You have to seperate Low turn accidents from Hook Turn accidents. One is an intentional manuever to gain speed for the thrill of a long turf serf (hook turn). The other is a turn too low to the ground to recover trying to line up with the wind direction or avoid a hard obstacle (low turn accident). I believe if you look at the "landing accidents" in the past few years there have been more of the Low turn accidents than the Hook turn accidents. Both need education to root them out of our fatalities total. Easily said, tough to do. Needs to be done. Chris Schindler D-19012 ATP/CFII www.DiverDriver.com

It reacts fine to depressurization just like the other doors. It's slick. But, I don't think I'll comment much about it here other than it's a nice improvement. Chris Schindler D-19012 ATP/CFII www.DiverDriver.com

Yes, and we still have them. But if they can't get through the door in the first place then it makes the air marshall's or crews job easier. Air Marshall's are trained NOT to jump up at the first sign of trouble. A single unruly passenger will still be handled by the flight attendants and flight crew. Chris Schindler D-19012 ATP/CFII www.DiverDriver.com

Speaking as a current airline pilot, no, they won't. This has always been the problem that we've complained about. This is why we need stronger doors. People can be affected by the altitude (especially with alchohol) and do things they would not normally do. It's not really their fault sometines but if they are in a fit of air rage then they should be held accountable. Oh, and all the reports saying that he broke through a reinforced door are not true. He kicked out a panel that HAS to be there in case of decompression in flight so that we don't bust out a bulkhead equalizing pressure. Basically he stuck his head through and that is as far as he was going to get. Smacking him with the side of the axe (blunt side) was the right thing to do but if they had stun guns (the ones with the prongs, not the ones that shoot the wires) then he could have gotten the attacker subdued much easier without risking a skull fracture. We're pilots, not executioners. I will defend my cockpit until I die before I give it up but we can do things to prevent it from getting to that point. The airlines need and must give us NON-LETHAL ways to subdue an unruly passenger. Not everyone is a damn hijacker you know. They don't ALL need to die. Chris Schindler D-19012 ATP/CFII www.DiverDriver.com

Thanks! And yes, I'm in Chicago. Where you coming in from? Chris Schindler D-19012 ATP/CFII www.DiverDriver.com

Nahh, just enough to be dangerous. Chris Schindler D-19012 ATP/CFII www.DiverDriver.com

I was looking to change my profile where I'm from but I don't seem to be able to do it from my control panel. Where can I do this? Chris Schindler D-19012 ATP/CFII www.DiverDriver.com

Line twists on a stilleto do NOT automatically mean a cutaway. If you are hanging under the canopy with twists then you can kick out just like any other canopy. If you are on your back spinning (they most always seem to spin with you on your back if they are gonna spin) then it's an automatic cutaway for most people. (there are a few acrobatic people I've seen kick out of spinning line twists but I don't really recommend it without a lot of altitude and a lot of jumps under the belt.) This is being taught during the Freefall Transition class at Skydive Chicago and is reviewed during the emergency drill section of every pre-dive. They recognize that spinning line twists can happen from things other than just regular line twists. A toggle coming loose during opening can cause spinning line twists. Canopy damage can cause spinning line twists. So it's not so much the cause that is important is the action the jumper will take when they see it. Under a litely loaded stilleto the chances for spinning line twists is decreased. This chance increases the heavier you load them. There is talk on this thread of the "unpredictable nature of students". This is true. And I have seen many students "saved" from those unpredictable actions by Sabres, Sabre 2s, and Stilletos. A recent graduate with about 40 jumps made the mistake of landing downwind. Everyone does it. What this jumper DID NOT DO was turn trying to line up into the wind at a low altitude. After realizing that they would land downwind they kept going straight without turning and gave a full flare, tumbled the landing and walked away. This jumper was on a Stilleto 150. A few years back we had a visiting jumper at Skydive Chicago who tried to make it back from a long spot and crossed nearly half a mile of open, unobstructed landing area to get closer to the packing hanger. This jumper had about 100 jumps. After seeing this persons friend land downwind tumbling they decided to turn low to get back into the wind. This person did not walk away from the landing. A severe head trauma, broken face, broken wrist, broken leg. Oh, this person was jumping a Falcon 235 (is that a correct size. It was a 230 something). So is Skydive Chicago wrong for training and then letting a young jumper use a Stilleto 150? Proper flight skills (note I did not say canopy skills. We are not reinventing the wheel. We're training pilots here and we've been doing it for 100 years) is what needs to be trained from the start. We need to teach people to land like an airplane does. A traffic pattern. And these skills are not being taught by many places. You jump a big student F-111 that flys more like a round canopy than anything. You give it a full flare (if you're strong enough) and then wait for touchdown. After student status the leaps are greater for a person downsizing. My personal progression was a Manta 288, Raven III 249, Cruiselite 220, Maverick 200, then a big jump to a Cobra 150. This was all in my first 100 jumps. I currently jump a Stilleto 107. I think that the only way I could do it without injury was that I am already a pilot and have air awareness skills. The DZ where I learned certainly did not cover much other than feet and knees together. Skydive Chicago graduates that I see usually buy only one canopy size smaller than they were using on student status. No large leap. And they have plenty of canopy instruction along the way (that's a whole other thread). But those who argue against agressive downsizing are also correct. If the DZ where someone is training can't handle the advanced canopy instruction then ABSOLUTELY they should not be putting students under these advanced canopies. Not every DZ is set up to do it. Not every DZ should. But more and more, there are. Oh, and someone posted the things that Roger Nelson was criticized for doing. You forgot putting students out with Square reserves, throw out pilot chutes for freefall students, and two tandem progression for freefall students. I guess that's more than $.02 worth of opinions. Maybe about $2.40 or something. Chris Schindler D-19012 ATP/CFII www.DiverDriver.com

I believe the Skydive U course is available on video with a book. Chris Schindler D-19012 ATP/CFII www.DiverDriver.com

Ok, I would not say ellipticals are more dangerous because they are elliptical. What makes them dangerous is the general lack of training anyone gets before jumping one. I compare canopy training and skydiving in general to aircraft pilot training. Without the proper initial training ANY canopy will be dangerous. As an industry/sport we have been failing. Many new programs have been started to try and change that and we are headed in the right direction. Ok, I think I'm digressing from the topic of the thread. Chris Schindler D-19012 ATP/CFII www.DiverDriver.com

"You have to have a thick skin when you want to make a difference." That was told to me when I started my website. I was told that I would have to be ready to be attacked and ridiculed for my efforts. But, I believe in what I am saying and so I must continue. It's a promise I made to my fallen friends. You have to continue to do what you believe in. I haven't been following the canopy sizing threads. I can imagine what is being said. You're being too conservative. You're just trying to sell them two canopies instead of one. Yadda...Yadda..Yadda. You gotta do what you believe in. Chris Schindler D-19012 ATP/CFII www.DiverDriver.com

You need to meet more pilots. Chris Schindler D-19012 ATP/CFII www.DiverDriver.com